Microsoft Surface Pro: The cheapest and most powerful drawing tablet?

I know there are many artist out there looking for the best drawing tablet that is both powerful and cheap. Unfortunately, you either had to go powerful and expensive or god awful but cheap. That, my friend, is no longer the case. I present to you, the Surface Pro by Microsoft.

Why the Surface Pro?

It is simple, the price to feature ratio quite literally blows every other product out the water. First and foremost, this tablet comes with a wacom stylus with 1024 pressure sensitivity. A beautiful bright screen at 1920 x 1080 which supports touch so you can pinch zoom, rotate, or whatever your heart desires. Full Windows 8, so you can install the art program of your choice. Strong enough specs for most art projects. And to top it all off, the price range (as of writing this article) sits somewhere between $150 and $300 from online retailers.

The Good?

It uses Wacom for its stylus!! This is important if you’re coming from a wacom product and prefer not to waste money on batteries. (Note: Surface Pro 1 and 2 uses wacom for their drivers, Pro 3 and above uses Microsofts own Ntrig technology) How does the pen look in action, you ask? Well take a look.

SurfaceProCSP

The screen is top of its class, it has very bright colors and high contrast. A resolution of 1080p which is standard for most pcs. ( A can’t stress this enough, the screen is awesome, you will love it.)

A Core i5-3317Uwith Intel HD Graphics 4000 (This is more than enough for your art projects)

4 GB DDR3 RAM

128 GB SSD HD (For true speed! Also note: There is a version with 64 GB of SSD, DO NOT GET THIS ONE! Win8 takes up around 20GB, you will be left with very little space to work with)

Charges the tablet with a magnet connection (This is good as it prevents any cord damage from potential rough handling)

IT’S A WACOM TABLET WITH A FULL OS FOR UNDER $300 (this should be more than enough reason, why are you still reading? Go get one!!!)

The Not So Good?

Ok, ok, of course, the product isn’t perfect. It does have it draw backs.

A screen size of 10.6 inches (This is pretty small folks, be prepared to become the zoom master)

The screen is glass and it smears like no other (prep up those wiping cloths)

It gets hot. It gets damn hot, so DO NOT leave it in your lap! (I know the size makes it easy to hold but don’t let it cook into a human omelet!)

7 hour battery life (Not really a problem for me, I just keep it plugged up)

It’s not “officially” sold any longer (Used or refurbished, pick your poison)

This tablet has worked wonderful for me. I’ve had a traditional wacom tablet for the longest time, so being able to actually see what I’m drawing on such a sharp, color rich screen for so cheap has been god send. If you choose to get this tablet, I believe you will not regret it.